Public Event Videos

Catholic leaders have spent much time discussing ways to reimagine what a more robust Catholic life might look like, both within parish walls and beyond. Using a survey of over 1500 Catholics and interviews with nearly sixty Catholic leaders, award-winning author, Dr. Maureen Day, discusses exciting findings and hopeful ways forward. After her presentation, Dr. Day was joined by Richard Wood, president of IACS and Fr. Matthew Wheeler, pastor of Our Savior Parish, for a dialogue about implications of the survey for pastoral ministry and for audience Q&A. Maureen, a sociologist, is an affiliate of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture and the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, both at the University of Southern California.

Learn about how to flourish in ministry with a model of daily wellbeing, resilience, thriving and authenticity. The Flourishing in Ministry project examines what motivates pastors to engage in ministry—and what disrupts their wellbeing. Clergy—often working with lean resources—can give so much to others and experience a sense of fulfillment and growth in their daily work lives. Psychologist Chris Adams directs the Mental Health and theChurch Initiative at the Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University. Richard Flory of the USC Center for Religion and Civic moderates this webinar, hosted in April 26, 2025.

Watch a discussion about the power of faith to drive resistance to anti-immigration policies in the United States. This event was hosted by the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture on March 18, 2024. Manuel Pastor, director of USC’s Equity Research Institute, moderated an online discussion with the authors of "God’s Resistance: Mobilizing Faith to Defend Immigrants" (NYU Press, 2023). The book chronicles the work of faith-based activists in Southern California who have mobilized to counter the effects of mass detention and deportation. Authors Brad Christerson, Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra and Nancy Wang Yuen discussed effective strategies, challenges and triumphs of faith actors' work on behalf of immigrants.

Artificial Intelligence can make our everyday lives easier and speed along innovation. It also looms as a sci-fi threat that can be weaponized against people, endanger livelihoods, squash human creativity and exacerbate divisions. Join us for a conversation about what it means to be human in an age of rapidly transforming technologies. Ken Chitwood was joined by scholars studying different sides of Artificial Intelligence: Darby Vickers, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of San Diego Stephen Aguilar, Associate Professor of Education, USC Rossier Ulf Hermjakob, Senior Research Scientist, USC Information Sciences Institute

Whether it’s conflicts in other countries, political divides closer to home, or arguments between family members and friends, tension is part and parcel to life in the modern world. How can people of any faith or none contribute to peace in a world of violence and polarization? Drawing on his reporting and research across the globe, scholar, journalist and theologian Ken Chitwood shares practical and conceptual tools to help the community attend to some of the most contentious issues of our time.

The reality of climate change is becoming evident in weather patterns and natural disasters. Listen to a conversation with Bekah Estrada of California Interfaith Power & Light about how we can care for the environment while adapting to a hotter world.

The Rev. Dr. Najuma Smith-Pollard hosted a conversation with Ida Puliwa, a social entrepreneur and community organizer from Malawi and a “Spiritual Exemplar,” profiled as part of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture's global project on engaged spirituality. They will discuss women's leadership and Ida's innovative model for transforming communities. Two Los Angeles-area faith leaders joined the discussion and reflected on how Ida's story can translate into faith-based organizing in US cities: The Rev. Nikia Robert, Ph.D., of the Abolitionist Sanctuary, and Rev. Stephen "Cue" Jn-Marie of The Row Church.

After decades of ministry, the Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray spent his “retirement” sharing his model of leadership and vision of Christian social ethics to a new generation of faith leaders. On what would have been Pastor Murray’s 95th birthday, we gathered for a conversation with faith leaders who have taken up the mantle from their spiritual (and sometimes biological) mothers and fathers. The retirement or death of influential faith leaders poses a challenge to their successors and the congregations they leave behind — how to best continue their legacy, while adapting to new circumstances. This roundtable discussion will feature LA faith leaders who are filling the larger-than-life shoes of their predecessors.

The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray announced his retirement from his second career—as Tansey Professor of Christian Ethics and chair of the Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement—at the University of Southern California. Since his arrival at USC in 2004, Murray trained about 1,000 faith leaders in the “Murray Method,” equipping them to transform their communities, as he had helped to transform South Los Angeles in his first career as a pastor. The Center for Religion and Civic Culture, which houses the Murray Center at USC, celebrated his retirement along with USC President Carol Folt, Dean of Religious Life Varun Soni, colleagues and supporters and the Murray family. Watch all speeches